Koopa's Final Blow
by YoshiBoo118
Summary: Failure after failure has caused Bowser to reach his breaking point with Mario. He decides to take a more serious, head-on approach to destroy him once and for all. (Contains some language and serious violence.)


_I'm sick of those damn plumbers ruining everything! No more….NO MORE…_

_A Goomba had stepped up. "Uh, sire? Maybe we should just give up? I mean, we've never succeeded. We've failed again and again and ag-" The Goomba had fallen to the floor, a knife lodged deep into its cranium. The Koopa King pulled out the knife he had just used._

"_I will make sure no one tries to stop my plans again…and this time I'm stepping up my attacks."_

_And in that little castle of his, something was spawning. The plan for the plumbers' destruction had begun._

* * *

It was midnight in the Mushroom Kingdom. The thunder roared with vigor, and the lightning flashed tremendously. It was pouring buckets of rain. Mario and Luigi, just returning on their way from another adventure, were headed back to Peach's Castle. While Mario had just come back with minor injuries, Luigi's were fairly more severe. A particularly nasty wound on his right leg came from the poisonous bite of a Swooper. "Stupid Swooper," said Luigi. "He gave me this stupid bite AND took my green hat."

"Don't worry, bro. When that infection heals and this rain stops, we'll find and take down that hideous bat," said Mario.

"Yep, as a team!" Luigi and Mario gave each other a high-five and continued their trip home.

While they were about halfway there, Luigi began staggering.

"Luigi, are you okay? You seem as if you're in intense pain," said Mario.

"No…I'm fine. Let's keep moving," responded his brother. Suddenly, Luigi fell to his knees. "Agh!"

"Luigi! You're not okay, let me help you-"

"NO! Listen, brother. I can continue on. Don't worry about me."

"I won't leave you. I mean, look at that wound, it already looks as if it's infected." Sure enough, the wound had started festering on its own. Globs of pus had been gushing out of the problem area. " I can carry you on my shoulders-" But Luigi had stopped listening. A voice rang out in his head.

_Luigi…_

The voice rang out ominously, as if calling to the green plumber.

_Luigi…come over here….Luiiiiiiiiigiii…._

The voice had increased in volume. Luigi started to shiver. "Something wrong, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"I s-swear…there's someone else here…I can h-hear a voice…" Luigi tried to act brave around his brother, but in reality he was the most easily scared person in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"…I can't hear anything. Just the sound of the pouring rain."

_Luigi…LUIGI…LOOOOIIIIIIIEEEEGEEEE_

The noise was deafening to Luigi. He could stand it no longer. "AGH. I can't take it anymore!" Luigi ran as fast as he could with his damaged leg.

"Luigi, wait!" Mario ran after him. He ran for several minutes, yet he just could not keep up. Even when ill, Luigi was always a fast runner. After about 10 minutes, Mario lost sight of his brother. "Luigi? LUIGI!"

Luigi had gotten closer to the voice. So very close…

_Almost there Luigi…just a few more steps…_

Luigi tracked the sound to a dimly lit cave with torches. He walked in. "H-h-hello? Who's…there? He walked into the deepest parts of the cave. Suddenly, the torches went out. "WHA? Who's doing this?"

He turned around to find the shape of a horrific looking ghost. It let out an ear-piercing shreak.

**EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH !**

"WAAAAH! MAAAAAARIIIIIOOOO!" Luigi screamed the loudest he had ever screamed. "I gotta…get out of here…" He tried to run. After just a few steps, his infected leg let him go no further. He fell to his knees. "HEEEELP-ACK…" Luigi looked down to find the blade of a machete, cut through from the back of his spine into his heart and out his chest.

"**GOODBYE, LUIGI. YOUR SOUL WILL BE BOUND TO HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!"**

Everything flashed in the blink of an eye, and then, darkness.

* * *

Mario had heard the call, loud and clear. He made it to the cave where the yell had originated. "Luigi! I heard your screams and I-oh… my God."

Luigi had become horribly disfigured. His face had been ripped off right to the bone. His heart appeared to the side, flat and crushed, as if it had been stepped on just for cruelty. His left leg was snapped in half, while his right leg was oozing goo from the infection he had. It had begun to stink. He also noticed a machete laying to the side. "What kind of no-good, low life could have done this?" Throughout the history with his brother, he knew that the only other times Luigi had screamed so loudly was when he had been haunted by Boos…yet he knew it was impossible for a Boo, or any other ghost to have yielded a weapon. "If I ever find out who…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something hidden behind one of the cavern's rocks. On closer inspection he immediately recognized it. "This is a Koopa Shell…" Mario scowled. "Bowser and those damn turtle bastards!" He grabbed the Shell and threw it to the ground, smashing it into several pieces. It was then he noticed there had been something concealed within the shell, a note of some sort. He picked it up and read the two simple words:

**Turn around.**

Mario turned around to find himself face to face with several Dry Bones. Their look was terrifying, as if their one sole mission was to destroy him as brutally as possible. Before they could swipe at him, Mario jumped back. However, he noticed something. One of the Dry Bones had a slight smirk on his face, in a way that made it seem that he had had the satisfaction of causing Mario great pain. Then, it struck him. "You…all of you guys…you KILLED MY BROTHER…I will MURDER YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!" However when he jumped, one of the Dry Bones, having the reflexes of a ninja, suddenly yanked out one of his own bones and threw it at the red plumber, causing him to stumble to the ground.

The same Dry Bones then approached Mario at an uncomfortably close distance. Once again, Mario noticed something, but this time it was a gut feeling. This Dry Bones did not look normal, nor did the other two. He couldn't pinpoint it, but something was just not right, their appearance made them look almost…fake. Could they…could they have been Koopas who just recently died and became this? No, no. It took years for a Koopa's Shell and the rest of his skin to completely decompose and become a Dry Bones, and he himself knew it from Professor Gadd's extensive research. Yet, if this had truly been the one to kill his brother, then why was there a perfectly non-decomposed shell laying nearby? However, he did a double take. The shell looked less real then before; the green coloring almost seemed to be melting away…none of this added up…

Before he could analyze any further, he realized that the Dry Bones that had gotten oh-so close to him had grabbed the bone he had dropped earlier, in preparation for another attack. Mario's reflexes matched that of the enemy's, and he quickly grabbed the club-bone before it could strike him. Pulling it out of his grasp, he swung the bone and struck a clean blow to the undead foe's head. His bones fell apart into one small pile. The other two followed right after him. Mario grabbed the bones of the fallen foe and began tossing them at the others rapidly. The Dry Bones sidestepped them, but eventually Mario got the rhythm of their movements. The next bone he tossed hit one square in the face, and he too collapsed. However, the last one was more cunning, and he kept dodging the bones. Mario reached for another one but ran out. The Bones charged directly at him, but at the last second, Mario bounced up into the air. When he returned to Earth he ran straight for one of the bone piles left behind. Grabbing yet another bone, he flung it at and hit the final Dry Bones before he was able to dodge, and again, another collapse.

"Phew…now that that's over…?" A rumbling sound began. Mario looked around to find the bone piles shaking. The bones had begun to reassemble back to Dry Bones. "I can't waste my time fooling around with these guys…I've got to get out of here!" He ran as fast as he could for the exit. When he got there, he found something he hadn't been expecting. "No….NO…"

Lines, groups, entire masses of Dry Bones a mile long had been marching in one direction: Peach's Castle. "…there's no way I can warn the princess in time…that group attack was just a distraction…"

"That's right, fool."

Before he could turn around, a large hand clasped over Mario's mouth and nose. He could feel the lack of oxygen in his body and started gagging. After a minute or two, his eyes began closing and he began to blackout. The last thing he heard was an evil chuckle from the strangler. He lost consciousness.

* * *

Mario awoke feeling weakened from earlier to find himself nearly crushed by several iron rings gripped tightly around his arms, pushing them to his waist; this and the fact that they were so heavy prevented him from moving. He turned and was surprised to see his evil nemesis; the Koopa King himself in all his glory. His sly grin disgusted Mario. After a second, his grin turned into a chuckle, the same one he had heard before he lost consciousness. Then it turned into an uncontrollable, wicked laughter that resonated throughout his castle, which Mario figured out was where he was. "What can you possibly find so funny?" he asked.

Bowser flashed another grin before replying, "I just can't believe it…finally, after all these years…I've managed to kill your brother, and am about to kill you and take over the kingdom in one fell swoop! It just makes me happier than I've ever been."

"I won't let you…" Mario began to feel a little woozy.

"…take over the kingdom? Well I'm afraid there's no hope. While you were incapacitated, I had some help from a friend. I believe you've met my pet Swoopy?" Out of nowhere, a Swooper flew in from behind and knocked over Mario's head before landing calmly on Bowser's back. Mario was terrified to, but he looked down; sure enough, a large gaping flesh wound appeared around two bite marks on his leg.

But this wasn't just any Swooper. Mario noticed something on its head, which in actuality it could not see because the object was so large.

It was a green hat that bared an "L" symbol in the center. His brother's.

"Yes…yes, I know you are in disbelief," Bowser went on, "and I also know that you are too worn out to speak." Coincidentally, Mario's lack of energy prevented him from getting a word in edgewise. "My entire plan worked perfectly, from the very start of that first bite to…well, this. After you're out of the picture, next comes the castle, then the Beanbean Kingdom, then very soon afterwards…the WORLD WILL BE MINE!"

"N-NO! Ugh…" Mario could barely speak. He could feel the poison spreading through his veins.

"Mm-hm, yes…I wonder what to do with the princess? Perhaps I might raise a few more children of my own…but enough of that for now. I can tell you're almost at the end of the road. I could simply let you pass away painlessly, and that would be that. But…so much grief you've caused me…so many plans for conquest that have failed….because of YOU and your BROTHER…I think your punishment will be justified."

"WAIT…" Mario was so tired, he felt he could die at any moment. "How…the Bones…not right…."

"I see you've noticed the uncanny sense that something was different about them? Well, I'm glad you did. Our little chat may have distracted you, but just listen…" Sure enough, when Mario listened, he could hear a faint sound in the background…like the sound of yelling….no….the sound of bloodcurdling screams. "Now…you shall see the truth." Bowser picked up the plumber with only one hand, and walked in the direction where the screams came from. As he walked down the hallway, they continued to get louder, and louder, and louder. Finally the Koopa King made it to the door at the end, and pushed it straight open.

What Mario saw has sickening. Normal Koopas were willingly standing in a zone where they were grabbed by a crane, and taken to right above a giant pit filled to the brim with a bubbling substance. The unique, atrocious odor let Mario figure out what the liquid was: sulfuric acid. As the crane reached its end, it released, dropping said Koopa into the burning substance. The screams he had heard came from the intense pain they felt from their skin being in contact with the substance. Mario witnessed the Koopa's skin dissolving off, followed by the waxy coating of the shell. All the way, the screams continued relentlessly. The process led to a sort of artificial Dry Bones; they had the same exact build as a normal one, yet with a feeling of life still among them.

"Heh. They all do it for me. Such devoted followers…and the mix of life with the feeling of death makes for much stronger subjects. 'No pain, no gain,' as they say it." He chuckled once more. "Now…you're next."

Mario tried his hardest to break out of the iron rings, but his weakened state simply wouldn't allow it. He could feel his heart beating wildly from the effects of the poison. All he could wish now was for the poison to kill him before the acid…

Bowser placed him on the zone where the other Koopas waited in line. Now both they and the man-made Dry Bones gathered to see the spectacle, the plumber's finale. Mario was lifted by the crane, waiting for the inevitable as it slowly made its ascension to the pit. "I'm…so sorry." Mario said quietly to himself. I let everyone down…the princess…the entire kingdom…and worst of all, I let my own brother down." A tear fell out of his eye and straight to the ground. The crane made it to its destination. Bowser took out a switch of the manual drop, made just for this occasion. "Ahh…so long, plumber." The Koopa King slammed his hand onto the switch's button, releasing the crane. Mario fell into the zest pool below.

The pain he experienced was the worst he ever felt in his entire life. He could feel his body slowly eroding away, first his legs, then his waist, then eventually he was up to his head in acid. The Koopas and Dry Bones stood, laughing at what they saw. Bowser had yet another sneer, knowing that it would be seconds before he perished. Lastly, Mario took his cap off and placed it in front of his face; he did not want Bowser to notice all the tears he had shed from the pain. Then, the plumber was completely immersed in the acidic juices. He had finally succumbed.

"Yes…YES! I've FINALLY DONE IT! MY PLAN FOR WORLD CONQUEST SHALL NOW BEGIN!" Bowser laughed, as well as the rest of his troops.

Soon afterward, the King and his army had set out to take over the second wave of their attack. Yet, it was not necessary; the first wave had done an extraordinary job. Without sufficient protection from the Mario Bros., the castle easily fell to Bowser. He finally had what he had always dreamed of. However, when they first checked for the princess, she was nowhere to be found. A closer inspection in the basement revealed that she had committed suicide by hanging herself on a nearby pipe with a rope. Beside was a note that simply had the phrase, "I will never join you. -Love, Peach"

A meaningless loss, Bowser had decided. He still had control of everything. He lived in total luxury, finally being satisfied with the plumber's demise. He sat back and simply smiled.

* * *

Ever since, Bowser has sent out his troops all over the world. They still have yet to complete their capture of Earth, but they have invaded. And they have not fallen down, not a single one. They could be anywhere, hiding, waiting for the perfect strike against anyone. Even yourself.

Just make sure that whenever you see a conspicuous note, pick it up and read it. You never know. It might just read:

**Turn around.**


End file.
